Acute abdominal pain in women at an emergency department: predictors of chronicity.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Persistence of pain after acute abdominal pain has been encountered but predictors of chronicity are insufficiently known. AIMS: To assess the course of acute abdominal pain and to explore whether chronicity is predicted by baseline demographic and clinical variables. METHODS: A follow-up study was conducted on all consecutive women who had visited an emergency department of a secondary care teaching hospital for acute abdominal pain. After a mean of 2.3years 115 women (58%) completed questionnaires. RESULTS: At follow-up 34 women (30%) still suffered from abdominal pain complaints for more than 3months the past year. Low education level (Exp(B)=4.21, p=0.017) and having experienced abuse before the age of 16 (Exp(B)=3.14, p=0.016) were significantly and independently associated with chronicity. No other socio-demographic or clinical factors predicted the outcome. CONCLUSION: At a 2.3year follow-up period nearly one third of all women with acute abdominal pain still suffered from pain. Low education level and abuse at younger age showed to be risk factors for pain persistence.